Channel TST
Channel TST is an NRO team run by Jonateer. This team is a veteran team and is arguably one of the pioneers of Roblox Robot Combat. Taking part in competitions ever since mid 2010, Channel TST has been a well-known team in Roblox Robot Combat, not only as a team with competing robots but also organising competitions between 2011 and 2014. Before the NRO Long before Jonateer found himself competing in NRO he was seeking out a means of organising robot combat on Roblox, as far back as 2010 when mosher100, owner of the biggest Robot Wars group on Roblox at that point, invited him to join. After brief participation in the ongoing Challenge Belt competition, Jonateer decided to attempt to run a full scale competition himself, to satisfy the void he felt existed with current competition: this would, in 2011, come to be known as TST Robot Wars' First Roblox Wars. It would, however, also be the final full competition TST would run, despite plans in 2012 to run a series of smaller competitions (titled 'Extreme') and a 2014 resurrection of TST Robot Wars on a smaller scale. The team's appearances in competition post-TST were infrequent, owing to the team's proclaimed retirement during 2014's League Special Events. Before joining the New Robot Order, the team would make one last appearance in public competition in RFC's Battlebots 2016, having received an invite from the organiser Qwerty expressing a wish that veterans such as Jonateer or Texodus participate. NRO Career Although built with only RFC Battlebots in mind, PNigma was given a second chance to prove itself in competition at the inaugural New Robot Order tournament. To make up the numbers, a second robot was provided in the form of This Way Up, a robot originally intended for a 2015 TST Robot Wars relaunch that quickly lost momentum. While This Way Up (as it was christened, due to its inability to self-right) was heavily modified to get the old robot working in New physics, PNigma was unchanged physically from its Battlebots entry. The Juggernaut Tournament In the first round of the July Juggernaut competition, PNigma defeated Usnig by tossing it over the wall into the Pit, while the grudge match with Error.Exe ended quickly as This Way Up was flipped over and was unable to self-right. PNigma survived to a judges' decision after battling Barberous 2, but in spite of its aggression the battle was ruled against the TST robot, particularly as Barberous 2 had dealt the more damage and managed to get PNigma out of the arena during the fight. NRObot Wars PNigma finally recieved modifications prior to its participation in NRObot Wars, now featuring an ungainly 'spatula' flipper. The first round of this heavyweight competition - consisting of four robot battles - did not prove easy for any robot, with PNigma's particular line-up a struggle to dispense of the unpredictable Thresher, joined by the more reliable Abstract V5 and Olympus. The battle, disturbed by numerous breaks and pauses, ended with Thresher and Olympus immobile; although both remaining robots proceeded to the next round, PNigma ended the troublesome bout by dispatching of Abstract over the side wall. The second round against Shove-Shock was considerably less difficult, with the lightweight opponent flipped also out of the arena. Matilda was unable to escape PNigmas attack after the battle's close. The next round, against Protosaurus, ran the full length; PNigma had difficulty flipping its hedgehog-themed opponent at times, but a unanimous decision sent PNigma through. Barberous 2, a robot that had defeated PNigma in the Juggernaut, would face PNigma again in the following round; perhaps due to the new 'spatula' weapon, the battle this time was far instead in PNigmas favour, but persisted with Barberous 2 being tossed around the arena walls until the arena flipper managed to nip it across the arena and over the wall. The final, a supposed grudge match for the battle that eliminated Public Nuisance Mk IV in the First Wars, put PNigma - the so-called underdog of the competition - against Wheely Big Cheddar, another very powerful flipper. When the battle started, movement was tentative, with PNigma getting early flips. One flip saw the cheese robot out of the arena, but Wheely Big Cheddar was able to return to the battle, now employing a strategy to lure PNigma to the pit it had opened upon its return. The strategy failed, however, when Wheely Big Cheddar strayed too close, and - as it began to topple into the pit - a light flip from PNigma put it fully into the pit, and saw PNigma crowned as the NRObot Wars July 2016 champion. Fleaweight Pre-Wars The team's first attempt at a fleaweight would make its debut here, in the form of Nibblet. One day before the Fleaweight Pre-Wars were due to start, the team had difficulty in fixing a bug with Nibblet's flywheel. With assistance from mosher100, the problem was rectified when a second version of the robot - the name stylised as nIIbblet - was constructed, also with an optional alternative axe-styled flywheel. As with This Way Up, a second robot was provided, the supposedly sacrificial thwackbot Cactus. In the Fleaweight Pre-Wars, Cactus survived its first round in the Beginner category by flicking Flea Plank out of the arena. In the following round, Mini Saw took a surprising loss to Cactus when - while being pushed into the pit - the robot suddenly leapt into the crowd, and Cactus had to stop suddenly to avoid falling in itself. In the Beginner Final, Embra the debris-walkerbot would face Cactus: the debris would have no effect on the high sloping surfaces of Cactus and, with its two large wheels, Cactus was able to push Embra around the arena and eventually onto its back, immobilising it, taking 1st place in the Pre-Wars Beginner category. Conversely, in the Experienced category, Nibblet 2 was eliminated in the first round by Olive; after the battle was paused for buckling, the restart saw Nibblet 2 caught at just the wrong angle in the corner and flicked over the wall. Aadam Bomb After its victory in NRObot Wars, PNigma received minor modifications. The face was changed to one of the standard Public Nuisance faces, specifically the more common "crazy" face, while a small female face with brunette hair adorned the side panel, supposedly representing the team's first title in an attempt to "pretty up" the ugly robot. The spatula flipper was now housed more at the front of the robot, with 'anti-tiptoe' extensions around the end to prevent the robot's rear from lifting when it flipped, as had happened during the first competitions. On either side of the robot, round domes were added to prevent PNigma from landing on its side, a position which - thanks to the front extensions - it would be otherwise unable to self-right from. The final physical change was the addition of 'ears' not unlike early incarnations of the robot; these originally had been intended to stop the flipper before it reached its full distance, but were moved further to the sides and now act as snaggers for exposed wheels if a robot ends up on top of PNigma. Meanwhile, an "anti-buckling" system was added to the robot's controls - a feature that New Robot Order were considering at this point as compulsory, if a robot should buckle mid-battle and can quickly repair itself. Owing to the nature of the Aadam Bomb competition that followed, the new PNigma's first battle would be against TST's own robot Nibblet, with mosher at the controls of the fleaweight. The battle was over fairly swiftly, as Nibblet ended up not only out of the arena but off the baseplate. The battle against likewise fleaweight Olive, though somewhat longer in duration, ended similarly. In the following round, PNigma would face a superheavyweight Dreamy V2, a robot over double its own weight. Seemingly disadvantaged by this, the first attack launched PNigma into the side wall, pinned mostly by the width of Dreamy V2. Fortunately, PNigma used Dreamy's harsh acceleration against it, as the new flipper setting allowed PNigma to flip the superheavyweight over its shoulder and out of the arena. PNigma faced the flamethrowing Bunsen in the following round, though a troubled start to the battle saw PNigma dragged onto Bunsen's front end and pushed into the pit. In the loser's rounds, Nibblet was pitted after being immobilised by Nightmare. Apollo worked its way up through the losers rounds to finally face PNigma in a closely-fought battle, though Apollo would ultimately win as PNigma's final flip threw itself further forward than its opponent, and took itself out of the arena. Saw Showdown Developments on PNigma focused on control, gaining a higher steering speed to try and eliminate the issues it had during Aadam Bomb with being unable to turn quick enough into an opponent when side by side. The domes on the wheel covers had proved ineffective, so longer and thinner spikes styled on those of the older Public Nuisances were added, further enhancing its visible similarities with the older robots. This upgrade was entered into September's Saw Showdown, alongside an also heavily modified This Way Up: while This Way Up in its Juggernaut setup had featured a lifting mechanism, the robot now had a much simpler forward-hinged flipper built into its top panel, intending to give the robot greater potency at the expense of the tongue-in-cheek significance of the name This Way Up - with this flipper, This Way Up was now capable of self-righting. In the first round of the Saw Showdown, PNigma's battle against Buzzer was brief, as Buzzer struck the floor bucklesaws and was launched out of the arena. Meanwhile, This Way Up threw Black Hole over the wall with its top-hinged flipper. This Way Up lost in the next round to Black Sun 2, in spite of a few good flips, by landing on a bucklesaw while self-righting. PNigma faced The Feared, but the battle seemed to be lost when a mix-up of controls saw Jon briefly lose control; when he returned to the battle, The Feared had seemingly been thrown out of the arena during the confusion. Wobsta Legacy faced Super Plank next; an issue with the turning circle of the red half sent it spinning into the pit, eliminating the clusterbot. Wharya - also called Inverse - faced PNigma next - a tense battle with many flips between both robots, which eventually saw Wharya out of the arena, albeit buckling and glitching. Next, in the final four, the opponent was Sgt Saw, which PNigma managed to immobilise in the corner on its back. The final saw PNigma face Black Sun 2, the robot that had eliminated This Way Up. Although tentative, the battle was decided with one solitary flip: Black Sun 2 tossed over the arena wall, PNigma to survive and take its second title in NRO as the inaugural Saw Showdown champion. Realm Of Titan As a continued tradition from the NRObot Wars victory, a blonde-haired vignette joined the brunette, albeit on the other side of the robot. The two championships, also, were listed on the rear wedge of the robot, allowing somewhat overambitious space for further titles. This Way Up in its first round battle faced Bigger Brother and Sciverous, but in one hit Sciverous threw This Way Up over the wall. PNigma, meanwhile, had little to do in its battle with Fat Plank and Storm Chaser; although it dealt the flip that initially buckled Fat Plank, it remained mostly out of the action for the restart while Storm Chaser flipped Fat Plank out of the arena. This Way Up's loser round battle against Synister 4 saw as little action as PNigma's first battle: after a delay for Synister 4's Titan-caused buckling, Synister 4 yet again immobilised itself on the pyramid. Titan's arm flung it aside, through the CanCollide false walls and out of the arena. The lack of action for either of the team's robots in Realm of Titan was put down to the arena's construction - there were gaps in the floor where the blue neon was, rather than a continuous floor with neon on top, thus causing issues not just for PNigma but any two-wheeled robots in the competition, and Titan's access to hazards meant a battle would often be decided by a typically-exaggerated OOTA. The team had managed to get both its robots through a battle simply by staying out of the action, with This Way Up's win left in the hands of the house robot Titan. While the team had considered withdrawing for different reasons during Friday practice, assuming the employment of three-ways and a hundred-stud house robot would cause severe lag, they had chosen to remain for Saturday's battles, but on Sunday chose to forfeit both robots' places: This Way Up, reaching "Round -2", and PNigma in round 2. The team was eligible for the Wildcard Rumble in spite of forfeiting and, with the issues with the arena being fixed, chose to restore PNigma. PNigma survived for a relatively long time in the battle, managing to get flips on Synister 4, PM4 and Brenda during the battle. However, a flip on Seige Engine - Troy saw the large flywheel come down on PNigma, launching both itself and PNigma out of the arena. A second Wildcard was required, and therefore This Way Up too was given another chance, but fell as the third remaining robot after having little effect on its opponents. Texodus' Robot Wars The team was eager to recover from the disappointment of their result in Realm of Titan, but the recovery process would not start immediately, as the next competition - Texodus' Robot Wars - had specific stipulations in place against entries with "negative ground clearance", forbidding entry to either PNigma or This Way Up. With competition entries originally being restricted to replicas of BBC Robot Wars competitors, TST constructed and entered a replica of Milly-Ann Bug, and later elected to take a robot from the lottery as their second entry. Thus, Diotoir was entered for the team. In Texodus' NRObot Wars, Milly-Ann Bug faced Beta-ish, but the battle saw two redoes before a third attempt saw Milly-Ann Bug toppled over and unable to roll itself back onto its wheels. The team's lottery robot, Diotoir, took part in a four-way melee for a seeding, but Diotoir was thrown out of the arena by Firestorm. In the main competition, Diotoir would be drawn against Recyclopse. The battle was slow to start with minor but frequent contact, before Diotoir successfully toppled the dome-shaped robot. After Sergeant Bash left his CPZ to attack, Diotoir turned on him too. In the following round, Diotoir again faced Firestorm with similar results, eliminating the Irish robot from the competition. Rusty Rumble 2 PNigma, relatively unchanged since Realm of Titan, and This Way Up, with a weight increase to 404sgs, were entered into Rusty Rumble 2; the team had sat out the first Rusty Rumble competition in order that, come the sequel competition where Tremor would fight to defend its title, PNigma and whichever other TST robots existed at that time could enter "on the back foot" and participate in a competition that already had history and backstory to its competitors. Having fared reasonably well with PNigma in the mixed-weight Aadam Bomb tournament, the team were hopeful heading into the weekend, if a little fearful of the "breakjoints" arena hazards. This Way Up faced the bizarre Hobocon robot Sump Ting Wong in the first round; in spite of the odd circumstances, the battle was short-lived as the first flip tossed Sump Ting Wong directly onto the breakjoint spinner, obliterating it almost instantly. This win however would put This Way Up directly against the team's own PNigma. PNigma's battle against its own teammate lasted the full time, and PNigma significantly gained damage by landing on the spinner, resulting in a judges decision where This Way Up was in favour for the Hazards criteria. However, control and aggression were seen to be on PNigma's side and - in spite of the lost corner of the flipper - significant, powerful flips on This Way Up gave PNigma the majority with damage, putting it through with a narrow result to the next round. Power House was next to face PNigma; the battle paused after a few flips to fix buckling, but PNigma soon regained control of the battle, neatly tossing Power House closer to - and finally over - the arena wall. For a place in the final, there would be a rematch - the new and improved Barberous 3 against PNigma. In spite of the earliest attack in the form of a first flip, PNigma went to attack at the wrong angle and was caught at Barberous 3's rear, and sent rolling across and out of the arena. With both robots now demoted to the losers' bracket, This Way Up met in the first round with Abomination, quickly dispensing of it with a single flip, which dropped it into the pit. Next would be Super Plank - as quickly as in its previous battle, This Way Up was able to nip behind Super Plank as it struck the side wall, scooped underneath it and threw it with such force it landed in the fake grandstands surrounding the arena. This Way Up's battle against Blizzard lasted longer, with only slight movements in a cagey battle to start. Blizzard however pinned itself on the arena side bars and, with every attempt to escape, was flipped back up onto the bars before managing to escape, only to land, immobilised, on the wall and be counted out. After a lengthy break, competition resumed, placing This Way Up against Planky Plank, with one decisive flip sending Planky Plank into the pit. Careful driving from This Way Up allowed it to close the pit on the wooden robot and eliminate it from the competition. The unfortunate result of this battle was that, once again, the two TST robots would face each other in the next round. This Way Up in this second draw, came out on top, as PNigma never recovered properly from landing on the arena side bars and was flicked neatly into the open pit by This Way Up. Crocodilotron, having seen Sgt Saw plunge into the pit, moved into the next round alongside This Way Up. After a difficult start, This Way Up was pinned between the pit and Crocodilotron, but using its flipper against the wall managed to drag its opponent in with it, forcing a reset of the battle at one minute in. Two further restarts yielded no clear winner, but a final attempt - in spite of This Way Up's dominance - also ended similarly. Spectacularly, it was decided to choose a winner through Rock, Paper, Scissors - incredibly, both Jon and Red chose the same items three times in a row, before three trivia questions as a last resort, deciding This Way Up as the winner. This Way Up's campaign went no further as, in its battle against Bunsen, the spinning bar caught This Way Up and trapped it in the far corner of the arena. Both robots would, however, benefit from the disqualification of Barberous 3 - winner of the final - as it was found to be overweight. This would promote This Way Up to its strongest finish yet with a runner-up spot, while PNigma would break into the top 4. The Juggernaut Tournament 2 For the first NRO competition of the new year, PNigma - fresh from its third title in RFC's Blade Arena - and This Way Up - after two consecutive third place finishes in RFCCS 2017 - were entered into the return to Juggernaut's arena. The robots were modified after the RFC stop, not only for the addition of a third female face to PNigma's front wedge: PNigma gained new artwork themed on a latex catsuit, while This Way Up was structurally modified so that the flipper now covered the front of the robot as well as the top. In the first round, This Way Up dispatched of Rebellium with another flip typical of those during its Rusty Rumble 2 run. However, the battle made apparent flaws in the robot's redesign, particularly as the flipper now seemed more stiff than it had during the previous campaigns. PNigma also struggled in its opening round, as its fight with Macedon lasted the full time with PNigma unable to deal any critical blows. The judges ruled in PNigma's favour on all four criteria, however, and both robots moved into the second round with a better result for the team already than in the first Juggernaut. In the next round, This Way Up fought Seige Engine: Alexandria, throwing it out of the arena once. The battle was ended in a premature manner as Seige Engine was interrupted in its return to the arena, but on the restart This Way Up dodged Seige Engine's attack, pinning the wooden flywheel robot on the edge of the pit and managed to tip it in. PNigma, eager to prove itself after failing to beat Macedon by outright KO, eliminated Mango Masher after only one flip, leaving it immobilised on its back. This Way Up fought Dantomkia next, appearing to get good flips in to start with but lost the fight when it slid onto the ramp to the pit. After fighting to reverse against the pushing Dantomkia, This Way Up attempted to jump over into Juggernaut's zone, but was pushed by the House Robot back and into the pit. PNigma managed to immobilise Ram Em 7 in its next round by flipping it onto its back, a position from which Ram Em 7 merely over-rotated with every attempt to right itself. PNigma's battle against Groudon started badly as it was thrown out of the arena twice almost immediately. After a restart for buckling, the battle was slow to get going properly, although PNigma managed to get two flips onto Groudon, the first into Juggernaut's area and the second saw Groudon over the wall and into the open perimeter. Colossal fell to PNigma after flips on either side; when the Red Zone was activated, Colossal was flipped and toppled back into the Zone when self-righting. PNigma, the only non-Red Zone robot to have made it into the top 4, would now face Lemon in the Final. The battle ran the full length, with the Red Zone activated but both robots managing to survive in the new area. Lemon was predictably awarded points for Damage, but PNigma won on the other three criteria to inherit the title of second Juggernaut champion. War of the Worlds This Way Up was entered into Texodus' War of the Worlds representing Earth, while new robot Gworb would act as the team's alien entry, representing the planet Epizootics from the SDSS14+13B Zercon system. Gworb's first battle was against Earth entry Beta-ish, another axe robot. Surprisingly, in spite of the alien's unpredictability, the battle lasted almost two minutes with pushing and axe blows from either robot. However, at a crucial point in the battle, when both robots needed to self-right, Beta-ish was sent somersaulting out of the arena. Astonished by the result, Gworb swiftly dove into the pit. Meanwhile, This Way Up saw Personal Space Invader spin itself out of the arena in a similar fashion after opening the pit against its opponent. This Way Up then turned against Dinky Dodgem the house robot but was unable to flip the house robot before it drove itself into the pit. Den of the End Entered alongside This Way Up was PNigma with its most significant modifications since Saw Showdown: after facing some of its most difficult battles on the way to the Juggernaut title, it was hoped that installing a rear flamethrower would allow the team to gain Damage points for future judges decisions. More noticeable was the alternative flipper, the "Pro" flipper: this was an experimental shape built after Juggernaut 2 in the hope that it might be better suited to certain opponents, though no robots of this design ended up competing. Early issues with control, as with Realm of Titan, were this time fixed before competition started. This Way Up was drawn into Group D, while PNigma ended up in Group I; both robots started the competition in the qualifier round. NRO W/L Ratio Wins: 30 Losses: 17